Ninety One UK Ltd Acquires Shares of 246,955 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 246,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,029,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $956,566,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $904,714,000 after purchasing an additional 10,632,735 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $477,765,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $451,711,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $90.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $88.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.85. The company has a market cap of $146.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MS. Bank of America raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,155 shares of company stock worth $16,723,094. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.